Do the Democrats who control the Legislature want to minimize the headaches facing public schools until the state's economy rebounds and the budget crisis eases? Or do these Democrats and their public-employee union allies see the crisis as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to persuade the public to go along with sweeping tax hikes – an opportunity they can seize first by exaggerating school funding problems and then by exacerbating them?

The FBI's search of the Capitol Hill office of Rep. William J. Jefferson two years ago was the first ever search of the office of a sitting member of Congress. May it not be the last – and not just because whatever power a member of Congress has can prove corrupting. The anguish over the Supreme Court's decision last week not to take up a worrisome appeals court ruling on such searches may be overwrought.

At more than 700 pages, “The State of the News Media 2008” released last month was more than I could digest. But based on what I've read, there are glimmers of hope as well as reasons to worry. Using original research and existing data, the report is a product of the nonpartisan Project for Excellence in Journalism.